I AM INTERN

Check out this article in today’s Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/04/AR2009080403258.html

As a member of the “recruitment” industry, I take great interest in the different statistics put out about education in our world. At a recent, SHRM Conference (The Society of Human Resource Professionals) I met a group called the AACSB, Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

“AACSB International advances quality management education worldwide through accreditation and thought leadership.” – AACSB Informational Materials.

Over the past year, I’ve noticed a significant amount of potential interns show interest in business internships and potentially entering business schools upon graduation. Is a student saying, “Yes, I want to enter an accredited business school”, a way of them simply avoiding graduation ? In an economy like today, maybe. But that’s not to discount the importance of attending business school and majoring in business degree programs.

I recently reviewed the AACSB’s pamphlet of Business School Data Trends and 2009 List of Accredited Schools. I found some interesting facts that I wanted to share. These further demonstrate the importance of education and it’s growth on a global level.

The Top 3 Locations with Accredited Member Schools
1. North America (481)
2. Western Europe (22)
3. Eastern Asia (17)

*In the US, the most popular location to have a main campus for an accredited school is URBAN (47.1 %)

*Estimated Number of Worldwide Education Institutions Offering Business Degrees is 11,833

Top 5 Countries Offering Business Degrees
1. US (1, 602)
2. China (1, 396)
3. Philippines (1, 243)
4. India (1,200)
5. Mexico (1,000)
*source was the Global Foundation for Management Education, AACSB

Most Popular Programs Offered Worldwide by Field/Discipline/Level for 2007 – 2008 for Bachelor’s Degrees
1. Accounting
2. Finance
3. Marketing

*Interesting: Wow ! Marketing ? Students that say they are “marketing majors” tend to get ignored and people say they are “taking the easy way out”. I feel the opposite. Marketing is an integral part of any business, especially these days when social media has taken marketing positions to a new level. Making that brand to audience connection can only be done by a true marketer.

Most Popular Programs Offered Worldwide by Field/Discipline/Level for 2007 – 2009 for MBA’s
1. General Business
2. Management
3. Finance

*Interesting: Entrepreneurship is only offered at 21.7 % of the school’s surveyed offering bachelor’s degrees and at 10.5% of the school’s surveyed offering MBA’s. I hope to see that number increase aggressively over the next 2-3 years. As a business owner, I only wish that I had some entrepreneurship classes under my belt.

From 2005 – 2006, Students in the US earned a total of 318,042 Business Degrees (BA). Of this total, 159, 683 of them were male and 158, 359 were female.
*Interesting: Note – not a big difference between male and female.
In contrast, from 1969 – 1970, there was a total of 105, 580 Business Degrees (BA) earned. Of this total, 96,346 of them were male and only 9,234 of them were female.
*Interesting: Hey Ladies ! We rock. Look how far we’ve come.

Of the BA degrees in Business earned from 1995 – 1996, 77.8% were White, 7.9% were African American, 5.5% were Asian/Pacific Islander, and 5.0% were Hispanic.
In contrast, from 2005 – 2006, of the BA degrees in Business earned were 72.4% White, 9.6% African American, 7.2% Hispanic, and 6.9 % Asian/Pacific Islander.
*Interesting: The only race to decrease in the amount of business degrees earned were White/Caucasians.